The invention relates generally to vegetation trimmers, and more particularly, to a combined mowing and trimming apparatus of a type that is mounted on a frame and supported on two wheels.
A variety of different types of mowing and trimming devices have been devised for meeting the requirements of particular applications. Conventional lawn maintenance, however, has required a lawn mower to cut the lawn and a lawn trimmer to trim the edges of the lawn, including areas of vegetation that border fences, buildings, etc. Flexible line vegetation trimmers are commonly used today for such trimming operations. Although the equipment for this two-part procedure is readily available, the procedure inherently involves a substantial duplication of effort since an operator must guide both types of equipment over substantially the same area, e.g., adjacent to buildings and other structures.
In response, various devices that combine mowing and trimming features in one machine have been developed. For example, such a mowing and trimming apparatus is disclosed by Altamirano et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,655 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The apparatus disclosed in Altamirano et al. includes a frame having front, rear and opposite side portions. A handle is secured to the frame at the rear portion and a trimming assembly is mounted to the front portion. A wheel adjust mechanism is provided at the rear portion of the frame which attaches to a pair of ground engaging wheels.
The trimming assembly includes a spindle head and a trimmer head. The spindle head is fixedly mounted onto a shaft so as to rotate with the shaft which is driven by the mowing and trimming apparatus. The trimmer head is adjustably clamped about the spindle head so as to rotate therewith.
By simple actuation of a wheel adjust mechanism, the wheels are effectively steered between a left position, center position, or right position, thus effectively placing the trimming assembly to either side of the wheels thereby permitting conveniently trimming along buildings, under fences, around trees, etc.
There remains further room in the art for improvements to a mowing and trimming apparatus, and in particular to the trimming assembly and the wheel adjust mechanism.
Briefly summarized, the present invention provides in one aspect, a spindle assembly for use in a trimming assembly of a mowing and trimming apparatus in which the spindle assembly includes a shaft fixedly and non-rotatably attachable to the mowing and trimming apparatus, and a spindle unit attachable to the shaft and driveable by the mowing and trimming apparatus for rotation about the shaft.
In another aspect, a spindle assembly for use in a trimming assembly of a mowing and trimming apparatus includes a shaft fixedly and non-rotatably attachable to the mowing and trimming apparatus, and a spindle unit comprising means for supporting the spindle unit for rotation about the shaft and means, driveable by the mowing and trimming apparatus, for rotating the spindle unit about the shaft.
In another aspect, a method for rotatably supporting a trimmer head of a mowing and trimming apparatus includes fixedly and non-rotatably attaching a shaft to the mowing and trimming apparatus, supporting a spindle unit, driveable by the mowing and trimming apparatus, for rotation about the fixedly and non-rotatably attached shaft, and attaching the trimmer head to the spindle unit.
In another aspect, a trimming assembly for use in a mowing and trimming apparatus includes, a spindle assembly as described above, and a trimmer head adjustably clampable about the spindle assembly so as to rotate therewith.
In another aspect, a wheel adjust mechanism is provided for a mowing and trimming apparatus having a housing with front, rear, and opposite side portions, and a pair of ground engaging wheels. The wheel adjust mechanism includes a pair of pivotal brackets each having a first end portion and a second end portion. Each of the first end portions of the brackets is pivotally attachable to a different one of the opposite side portions of the housing. Each pair of axles is attachable to a different one of the pair of brackets and outwardly-extending therefrom for rotatably attaching to the ground engaging wheels. A tie rod having a first end and a second end attaches at each end to a different one of the second end portions of the brackets, and means for adjustably moving the tie rod relative to the housing is provided to cause the ground engaging wheels attached to the brackets to pivot relative to the housing of the mowing and trimming apparatus.
In another aspect, a mowing and trimming apparatus includes a housing having front, rear and opposite side portions, a handle connectable to the rear portion of the housing, a trimming assembly as described above mountable to the housing at the front portion, means for rotating the trimming assembly about an axis of rotation, and a pair of ground engaging wheels rotatably attached to the rear portion of the housing.
In still another aspect, a mowing and trimming apparatus includes a housing having front, rear and opposite side portions, a handle connectable to the rear portion of the housing, a trimming assembly mountable to the housing at the front portion, means for rotating the trimming assembly about an axis of rotation, a pair of ground engaging wheels, and a wheel adjust mechanism as described above attached to the housing and to the ground engaging wheels for adjusting the position of the wheels relative to the housing.